


by any other name

by shiftseveny



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: M/M, Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-12 07:00:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19942090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiftseveny/pseuds/shiftseveny
Summary: The last enemy that shall be destroyed... is wedding planning!Commission for baalsdungeon.





	by any other name

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Baalsdungeon](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Baalsdungeon).



优花

"Judar."

"Mm?"

"Marry me."

See, there was a time that hearing something like that probably would have made him really happy, but that time was... a long time ago, right? Three years was a long time! He'd have a hard time pinning down when it was that he'd stopped fantasizing so hard - riding the high off of Belial's dungeons, he would have been downright giddy to say yes, but the thing was that it'd  _ probably _ have stopped mattering the moment Hakuryuu fell and became his anyways.

So what came out of his mouth wasn't "yes" or "fuck yes" or even "wait, weren't we already?" but a resoundingly uncomfortable "... _ haah _ \- hrk, shhhit," as he tried for a questioning noise and ended up nearly choking on a peach pit. He spat it out and reached for the next one, taking a big bite to clear the dryness from his mouth before he spoke again. 

"Why’re we getting married?"

Hakuryuu’s face scrunched up the way he used to do when they were kids.

It wasn't a weird question or anything, right? Hakuryuu didn't seem too happy with it, though. Judar frowned. It wasn't that he disliked it or anything, but when Hakuryuu made that face it was always a toss-up on whether or not Hakuryuu would sulk for weeks or just spit it out, sometimes  _ too _ soon. For his part, he didn't ever think too hard about what to say, but the way Hakuryuu would clam up even tighter sometimes almost made him wish he would.

“Hey. Hakuryuu.” He reached up to pat his king’s cheek. When that didn’t do anything to smooth the sour from his expression, Judar resorted to pinching, which got him a scowl and a hand swatting his own away. Whatever. Mission accomplished. 

"Are you scared?" Hakuryuu asked, tone far too even to be for real.

He swallowed too fast and nearly choked, so he made sure to chew his next bite extra slowly. He took everything nice he had ever said or thought about Hakuryuu back, even the bits that he didn't remember.  _ Especially _ the bits he didn't remember. What did he have to be afraid of? He was - well, not a magi anymore, but still an all-powerful force of nature. More importantly, what did  _ Hakuryuu _ think he was afraid of? Why would his king say that? Even if there was something that could frighten him, it wasn't like he'd just run away without Hakuryuu's lead - and his king was no coward. And that was just the thing, wasn't it? They were more than partners, more than lovers, more than friends. They were king and magi. It went without saying. Or, it should have went without saying, but it looked like he still needed to say it?

So he said it. "You're my king,” which,  _ wow _ that felt good, but… but Hakuryuu just frowned harder.

...so, he guessed it was the wrong thing to say? But how could it be the wrong thing to say?

"That's not an answer," Hakuryuu said, which, uh, obviously it was? "Ugh, whatever. I'll say it simply, since you can’t. Yes or no?"

"No," Judar said, because he wasn't scared, and even if he was it wasn't like he was going to admit it to his  _ king _ , jeez. And if he was going to be scared of something, it'd probably be the sour face Hakuryuu was making just then. "What's there to be scared of?" 

"You just said you didn't want to get married."

Had he said that? He guessed it was possible. Maybe even probable. Or something like that, at least. Sounded like him. "Doesn't mean I'm scared." It was just a wedding. It wasn't intimidating, even if thinking about all the preparation was enough to give him a headache even without going into detail. “Even if the ceremony’s a hassle it’s not like I’m going to be the one planning it, right?” It was a good thing that Hakuryuu would be dealing with all of that, though it was definitely not a good thing if it would leave him too busy for Judar. 

Oh, but it was his wedding too, he could probably feign some interest in order to hang off of Hakuryuu's shoulders... maybe? But it'd be so _ boring _ , and he said so. Hakuryuu would probably get annoyed with him and shoo him off and then be too busy talking about seating or statistics or  _ seating statistics _ to even cuddle. What good was a wedding if it cut into cuddle-time. Judar made sure to say this, too.

“...Though if you promise not to forget about me while you’re counting out the treasury I guess it’s fine.”

"You're impossible," Hakuryuu said, in the voice he used for imperial decrees, but he was smiling. Judar grinned and pressed sticky, sticky kisses up his cheek and to the tip of his ear. He still didn't get what just happened or why Hakuryuu was happy now when he'd been so grouchy earlier, but it didn't matter. Hakuryuu's scars were tickling his lips and Hakuryuu was groaning in that weird breathy way, the closest thing he got to laughter most days, so it didn't matter.

“So we’re getting married then,” Hakuryuu said. Judar huffed, wrapping his arms around Hakuryuu’s shoulders as he pulled himself up and stuck his chin on the top of Hakuryuu’s head.

“If you remember my demands, then sure,” he replied. Hakuryuu’s shoulders shook a bit as he pressed his face into Judar’s shoulder. Was he laughing? For real laughing?  _ Nice _ . Judar gave himself a mental pat on the back.

"Of course I'll still make time for you," Hakuryuu said, even though he hadn't exactly been doing a great job of that lately. Judar liked that about him, too, the way he didn't really care what he said to the point that not even his magi was spared. Still, he leaned down and bit at Hakuryuu's ear, maaaaybe just a little harder than he should have. 

"You'd better not," he replied, and that was that. At least for the time being.

苏音

“The time being” went something like this.

Instead of joining him in bed at night, Hakuryuu pinched the bridge of his nose because trying to read in the low light was giving him a headache, and said, “Judar. Be quiet for a minute.”

“As my king commands,” Judar replied, and was even generous enough to give him  _ two _ minutes of silence before starting up again. It was worth it for the way the corners of his mouth quirked upwards, not quite a smile but not  _ not  _ a smile either.

Then, in the morning, Hakuryuu would got up first - as usual - and Judar woke up closer to noon but still much earlier than he was used to. He went to track Kougyoku down, hassle her for Hakuryuu’s most likely locations, and then snag her fancy hat off her head on his way out.

“Stop stealing her crown,” Hakuryuu said instead of greeting him. It was only fair, though, since Judar had snuck up and dropped it on his head.

“Your crown, actually,” Judar said, and at Hakuryuu’s wry look, added on “...but as my king commands.” Even if he wasn’t supposed to steal  _ Kougyoku’s _ fancy hat, he could just hassle the various court officials. He sure wasn’t going to stop giving Hakuryuu excuses to order him around, not when it actually made him  _ grin _ once in a while.

They repeated this for a few days before Hakuryuu’s patience ran out. In the end, “the time being” lasted less than half a week. Judar figured it made sense. If someone was constantly hovering over his shoulder providing running commentary on every possible detail of his wedding plans, the people making his wedding plans, and also how they were totally not interested whatsoever in his wedding plans, he’d probably have dropped them through a portal within the first few minutes. Just because he was Hakuryuu’s betrothed now didn’t mean he was some proper quiet spouse, he was still really obnoxious and pretty damn proud of it.

“I can be good, promise,” Judar swore with absolutely no sincerity whatsoever, and Hakuryuu groaned.

“You froze him to the  _ ceiling _ .”

Wait - so maybe it wasn’t so much the chattering as the fact that he was slowing the preparations by icing so many of the officials?

“He was looking at me funny,” Judar said. Whether or not it was true didn’t change the fact that the guy had been carrying some pretty important scrolls, though, and when the ice melted the ink had ran.

“If you’re so bored then go bother Kouen for a trial or something,” Hakuryuu said, rubbing his brow the way he did when he felt a headache coming on, and - Hakuryuu’s words caught up to his worry. Judar almost fell out of the air.

“Wait, I’m doing trials?”

“Yes,” Hakuryuu said, “Though my sister is still trying to decide on hers and I don’t want you to do Kouen’s first, so I suppose you can wait a bit longer.”

“ _ I’m _ the one doing trials,” Judar repeated, wondering if he was actually still bounding off into space with the last several years as his bizarre dying dream. “ _ Me _ .”

“Actually, we’ll both be doing trials,” Hakuryuu said, which served to clarify nothing at all whatsoever.

“I thought you said you wanted a traditional wedding.”

“It  _ is _ a traditional wedding,” Hakuryuu said dangerously, with the voice of someone who had had this argument many times. Pissing him off was probably a bad idea, especially since they’d just been not-fighting, but that just made poking a little fun at him even more appealing.

“If it’s traditional then why are we  _ both _ doing trials,” Judar said. “Look, it’s not like I’m the one who wants a good ol’ Kou-fashioned ceremony, so you don’t have to pretend or anything? I know two men getting married happens - don’t look at me like that, I’ve travelled way more than you anyways - but even then there’s not two sets of trials, you seriously can’t call it - “

Hakuryuu’s brush snapped.

“...uh,” Judar said. Maybe he’d poked a  _ lot  _ more fun than he’d thought? “That’s like. The third brush you’ve broken this year, isn’t it?”

“Just. Go do your trials,” Hakuryuu said. 

“As my king commands,” Judar replied, but Hakuryuu didn’t even smile at him this time.

柔云

He did, in fact, end up going to Kouen first.

“I’m not actually here to do whatever test you’ve set up for me,” Judar informed Kouen. “This is just ‘cause Hakuei hasn’t decided on hers yet, or whatever, and I just wanna know what it is you’re planning.”

“You make it sound so ominous,” Kouen said.

“It’s Hakuryuu’s wedding, it’d be weird if it wasn’t,” Judar said, with the most exaggerated “obviously” ever implied at the end. After all, Hakuryuu was the guy that took Kouen’s limbs, or… something, it was never really clear what happened after the war. Hakuryuu didn’t like to talk about it so he gathered something unpleasant must have happened even though he won just like Judar had known he would.

“Hm,” Kouen said. Judar felt himself scowl. They’d only interacted a handful of times since the dissolution of the Sacred Palace and each was just as awkward as the last. This time was even worse because there wasn’t anyone else there to act as a buffer. 

“What, have you not thought of one yet either,” Judar said. “Because I’ll totally skip it, no need to bother if your old man brain can’t handle coming up with something good enough.”

“Oh, no, I know what you’ll be doing,” Kouen said. “I was just thinking that you were being surprisingly proper for once.”

“Haa?” Did he lose his head when he lost his limbs or something? That might explain why he’d been weirdly quiet each time he’d gotten his limbs tuned up. “How the hell is anything I’ve said proper?”

“Well, it’s not as if you’ve been respectful to me, of course,” Kouen corrected himself with a smile that was way too satisfied. “But wanting to take Hakuei’s trial first, and having such high expectations on Hakuyuu and Hakuren’s behalf… I was not expecting such dutiful behavior from you, Judar.”

Wait. Wait wait wait wait. Did this guy just imply he’d be giving him trials for Hakuyuu and Hakuren, too? What the fuck? Judar might not actually care about Hakuryuu’s dead brothers but he sure as hell cared about Hakuryuu, and Hakuryuu would never be okay with that kind of thing.

Then his brain caught up to the last sentence.

“Haha, very funny, okay,” Judar’s mouth twisted. “Laugh it up while you can, Hakuryuu might actually execute you this time for trying to stand in for his brothers.” 

“I doubt it,” Kouen said, far too calmly for someone who had just implied - whatever the hell he had implied, but Judar could recognize backhanded compliments even better than he could recognize orphan jokes. “Hakuryuu has far too strong a sense of filial piety.”

_ Yeah, and he sure as fuck’s tried to kill you over it before _ , Judar thought snidely. 

“He should just disown you already,” Judar muttered. Kouen’s shoulders shook with something that was probably amusement instead of fear or rage. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all.

“You’re quite protective of him,” Kouen said, when the shaking subsided.

“What the hell are you on about,” Judar snapped. “Am I just talking to myself here? Are you hearing things, old man? I heard that happens with seniors sometimes, y’know - “

“Just like that,” Kouen said, still looking far too pleased. “I have never imagined that Hakuryuu would find happiness with such a non-traditional partner,” suddenly, Judar had a divine revelation about why Hakuryuu had been so touchy about the subject earlier, “but if this is how you behave for him, then you won’t be a bad spouse.”

“You’re seriously talking in circles here,” Judar said. “Keep it up, I’ll get Kougyoku to uninvite you from the wedding, how d’you like that.” It was an empty threat and they both knew it. It didn’t have to be, though. Even if he couldn’t just off Kouen there were other ways to keep someone from coming and going, and if he talked to Zagan a bit he could probably figure out how to manage enough life magic to give someone serious bowel problems, if not make them outright sick.

“Your loyalty is admirable, even if some of the lengths you wish to go to for him are unrealistic,” Kouen continued. Judar had always been really proud of his hair but now he wanted to start tearing at it. Actually, what if he tore out Kouen’s hair? Or just made it fall out so that no one would know it was his fault. Then people wouldn’t be able to blame him for Kouen not coming to the wedding out of sheer embarrassment - no, that wouldn’t work, one of the princesses had a surprisingly varied collection of wigs.

“Just. Just talk like an actual person for half a second, okay,” Judar said. “Look, I’ll put it in baby words. What do you want me to do.”

“Do you love him?” 

Judar just stared. What the fuck? Had this guy actually been his king candidate once? He couldn’t imagine what his past self had been thinking. He couldn’t imagine what Kouen was thinking, either. Why would he ask something like that? What was he trying to get at?

“What kind of question is that?” Judar snarled, feeling his lips pull back into something that was probably pretty gross-looking. Kouen, however, started actually  _ beaming _ . It was the creepiest thing Judar had ever seen, and he’d been stuck on the Dark Continent for two years.

“Your indignance speaks to your devotion,” Kouen said, and Judar wanted to grab him by that stupid goatee and scream for him to use actual people words. He just wanted to know what his trial was, for fuck’s sake, why did Kouen have to make everything so fucking difficult? “I believe that will be all.” Wait. What? What?

“Is this some sort of joke?” Judar demanded. “Like, Hakuryuu’s brothers are dead and can’t give a trial so since you wanna take their place so bad you also won’t give a trial?”

“What?” Oh,  _ now  _ he looks offended. “I would never disrespect them in such a way. I genuinely believe their highnesses would simply wish to have a discussion on the nature of love rather than pose some sort of - “

“Oh,  _ shit _ ,” Judar said, blood running cold. “You sneaky son of a bitch, you made me take your trial before Hakuei’s.”

Kouen’s mouth opened and closed for a few moments. 

“Ah,” he said. “So it seems.”

Judar took a deep breath. Then, he started screaming.

仙铃

It turned out that beating the shit out of Kouen wasn’t half as entertaining when he just sat there and took it like a sad lump of self-loathing, so Judar swapped his staff and incoherent warcalls out for his most reliable weapon; his obnoxious motormouth.

He yelled at Kouen for the better half of the day, listing off each and every one of his numerous failures (that he could remember) and calling him every insult under the sun until Kouen said, morosely, “Hakuren would have approved of this.” The idea that  _ this _ could also count as a trial was just the worst, and the idea that if it was he’d be completing  _ two _ trials before even talking to Hakuei was somehow even worse than the worst, so he thwacked Kouen with his staff one last time before running off.

“I don’t care if you haven’t made up your mind,” he declared, having finally found Hakuei in the kitchens. “Flip a coin or something, I’ve already messed up enough for one day and I’m going to have something to brag to Hakuryuu about by tonight or I’ll keep the whole palace up, see if I won’t!”

Hakuei gave him a look.

“You do know that you aren’t meant to see Hakuryuu until you complete all of the trials on his behalf, yes?” she asked. 

“What,” he croaked. “But. But what about - “

“I know,” she said, with way too much sympathy for someone who had gone and completed  _ Kouen’s _ trial before hers even if she didn’t know it yet. “Two sets of trials isn’t exactly traditional, but he was fairly insistent. I’m sure he’ll want to see you in between sets, though, if the two of you aren’t doing them at the same time…?”

Judar flopped to the floor.

“Judar?” Hakuei called from somewhere above, with so much concern that it made him sick. “Judar, are you alright?”

“I messed up,” he mumbled into the floor. “‘M sorry. I did Kouen’s trial already.”

Judging from the silence, she wasn’t happy about it either.

“Hakuryuu’s gonna be so mad,” Judar moaned. “He’s gonna be so mad, and then the wedding will get - hey, d’you think the wedding will get cancelled?”

“The wedding’s not going to be cancelled,” Hakuei said, frowning as she knelt down next to him. He tossed an arm over his eyes to avoid the look she was giving him, but she just grabbed his wrist and tugged him to his feet. “...you don’t  _ want _ it to be cancelled, do you?”

“I might,” he muttered. “We’re already pretty much married anyways, what do we need a ceremony for.”

“If you didn’t want a wedding then why did you say yes?” 

“I felt like it,” he said, and at Hakuei’s sharp glance relented, “Fine, fine, it was because it’d make Hakuryuu happy. He’s not gonna think of us as married until we go through all the five step seven step bullshit anyways.”

“But you think of him as your husband already?”

“Yeah, so?” He couldn’t help the flush that rose to his cheeks at hearing Hakuryuu called his husband. It had been like that back in his village, too, though Judar had made sure no one made those jokes within earshot of his king.

...He hadn’t known, back then.

“You may have grown up in Rakushou with the rest of us,” Hakuei said, “but you really don’t know a lot of things, do you?”

“I know, I  _ know _ , it just - doesn’t matter. Not to me.” 

“It matters here.”

“Well it shouldn’t,” Judar grumbled. “And I’m not the only one who thinks so or used to think so, you know, it didn’t matter back home!”

The silence hung over them like the blade that should have lopped off Kouen’s head but didn’t. Why didn’t it. If Kouen was dead he wouldn’t be having this talk for a whole number of reasons. He could have just gone to her first and bent backwards for whatever task she thought of and then it’d be over with. It’d be  _ done _ . 

“...yes, I suppose,” Hakuei said, finally. “I wouldn’t know. I’m sorry about that, Judar.” He wanted to throw up. “Have you talked to Hakuryuu about… he didn’t want to make you be his bride, you know, but the ceremony is still in accordance with Kou traditions, so - “

“I don’t care,” he interrupted. “I don’t know what you’re on about and I don’t care. A Kou wedding is fine. Even if he was doing a Gai wedding I wouldn’t care either. Because we’re still. Y’know.”

And she did know. There’d been years between the present and when he had taken her to Paimon’s dungeon, but they’d spent a lot of time together more recently just because it’d made Hakuryuu happy. It’s not like they understood each other or anything, but Hakuei could make close enough guesses on a good day, and when it came to loving Hakuryuu there wasn’t anything to guess about.

“He really shouldn’t be leaving you out of the preparations this much,” Hakuei sighed, as if Judar hadn’t made his disdain for all the fuss clear enough. “I was planning on having you do something different, of course, but… do they have tea ceremonies in Gai? I don’t mean to assume.”

“Why a tea ceremony.”

“It seemed more fitting,” Hakuei said carefully. “Since our family is…”

“...made up of lightweights, right,” Judar finished, even though it wasn’t strictly true. “What kind of tea are you gonna teach me to make, then? Kouha’s gonna be a brat if it’s too bitter, y’know.”

“Actually,” she hesitated. “I was thinking that you could choose. Even if it’s a traditional ceremony, it won’t hurt to honor your ancestors in some ways, right? You could even call it filial piety.” 

...Hakuei really was too good to them.

“There’s this type of milk tea,” he said slowly, watching her face carefully as she nodded along. “It’s… it might be kinda strong for you guys. But one of my aunties taught me to make it, so.”

“That should be fine,” Hakuei said. “Though if it’s that strong you should probably warn people in advance. Even if it might be amusing to watch someone humiliate himself, it is your wedding, in the end.”

They were definitely thinking of the same someone, there was no way even Hakuei could forgive Kouen for something like this. Judar perked up at the thought of Kouen struggling not to spit the tea all over himself, but… eh, it didn’t matter, he wouldn’t let Kouen attend anyways.

Hakuei might not even be that mad about it.

嘉慧

Mastering tea ceremonies (or one specific tea ceremony, at least) really got the ball rolling in more ways than one. He and Hakuei chatted throughout, even though he’d have to be reciting titles during the actual thing, and Judar felt at ease for the first time in. Huh. A while, probably? Longer than he’d thought at least..

But then he ran into Alibaba, who offered to pay his dowry and Judar remembered that  _ Alibaba _ had somehow managed to get married, which meant that he had to have had a wedding at some point, and it was probably a really nice wedding, too, if he was loaded enough to be offering to pay a royal dowry. Judar had no idea what Alibaba’s wedding might’ve looked like, but he and Hakuryuu could definitely do better - no, not just better, twice as fancy! Five times! Ten times! They’d make Alibaba’s wedding look like a bar fight!

“I was just trying to be nice,” Alibaba had whined pathetically, like a pathetic person, when Judar told him this. Judar had no idea what he could have meant, because he was a -  _ former _ Magi, and the most powerful magician in the world, why would he even need a dowry? If Alibaba hadn’t been poking fun, then what could he have meant?

“Actually,” Koumei said, and briefly explained something involving legal loopholes, barely-extant Southern customs, and Judar playing the bride’s role, which, whatever, but what the fuck? He needed a dowry? He’d totally thought he wouldn’t have to think about anything, Hakuryuu would just tell him what to do when the time came, but now he needed a  _ dowry _ ? 

“The former djinn have offered to provide - ”

“FUCK the djinn,” Judar howled, “and FUCK the dowry, I am the HIGH PRIEST and ORACLE of this empire, I don’t NEED a fucking dowry! My magoi and skills are my dowry, anyone would be HONORED to marry m - ”

Alibaba scurried off, looking suitably terrorized, and Koumei just sighed.

“Lord Priest,” he said. “I’m certain that he  _ is _ honored to marry you, but you’ll still have to pass my trial if you wish to make that happen.” 

Oh, right. Well, bring it on, then!

And then Koumei told him what his trial was.

“Why,” Judar said, mouth dry. “Why would you do this to me.”

Koumei shrugged.  _ Maybe because you just tried to blow my eardrums out _ , the hands still over his ears seemed to say. 

“No, seriously, why,” Judar argued. “You’re not that grudge-y of a guy, right? And you can’t try to tell me this is vengeance for the war or something, I wasn’t even around for it. I was busy being dead, remember?”

“You can’t guilt trip me, High Priest,” Koumei said mildly, and held out a hand. Numbly, Judar picked up the nearest scroll to hand to him. “I suggest you make yourself comfortable, this may take a while.”

After Kouen and Hakuei, Judar knew that he should probably be more grateful that Koumei’s trial was so easy. But he thought it was far more wicked and agonizing than anything Hakuryuu’s other relatives would be able to think up. It was actually excruci - excru - what was the word? Hakuryuu would know, but - 

“Judar,” Koumei said, rapping his fan against the table. “Pay attention. The longer it takes you to hand me all the scrolls, the longer you’re going to have to sit here listening to me talk.”

“I’m listening,” Judar said, and squirmed a bit in place. Maybe it was his imagination, but he swore he could already feel his legs going numb. “Yeah, I. I’m listening.”

“No you’re not,” Koumei said. “If you were listening you’d have fallen asleep by now. But that’s fine. Since I have all the time in the world.”

Judar whimpered, bowed his head, and grabbed the next scroll.

瑛安

It took way longer than Judar cared for, with Koumei’s retainers constantly coming and interrupting to drag him off for food and water and getting dumped in the nearest koi pond. And Judar fell asleep a lot, too, there was that.

It probably would have taken longer if Koumei didn’t actually have all the laws memorized like the inhuman nightmare he was, since Judar being asleep meant he wasn’t handing Koumei any scrolls, but done was done. Done was done, even if Judar could still hear Koumei’s annoying voice ringing between his ears. He swore he could almost see the kanji swimming behind his eyelids, and not only had he not looked at the scrolls beyond brief glances, he couldn’t even  _ read _ most of them. It was awful. It was absolutely awful. 

And Koumei was the boring one out of Koutoku’s brood.  _ Kouha _ was the sadistic one. 

Judar shuddered.

However, when he finally steeled himself to approach the little devil (with a peach bath, and then more peaches, and then a nap, and then another peach bath) Kouha just whistled pityingly. 

“I didn’t think Mei was  _ actually _ going to make you listen to him read all of Kou’s laws,” he told Judar, “I just said it as a joke. But, y’know, it’s all good, you’ll be able to help Hakuryuu with his work or whatever. Like a good spouse! Just think of it like that, ‘mmkay?”

Judar inhaled. Counted to four. Exhaled. Thought about counting to four with Kouha’s dismembered limbs. Inhaled. Counted - 

“Aaaaanyways,” Kouha continued, “don’t worry, I decided to play nice. This one’s gonna be easy for you, alright?”

“If you thought about it before seeing me like this, it’s definitely not playing nice,” Judar said snidely. He should have  _ known _ that Kouha was behind Koumei’s trial, the little  _ skunk _ . “If you really wanna get away with all your braids intact you’ll have to change - "

“Funny you should mention braids!” Kouha interrupted with a grin, “since I know Gyoku - oh, wait, I probably shouldn’t say anything. Anyways!”

He pulled out a jar of - something - and slammed it down.

“I’m not going to have a drinking contest with you,” Judar said automatically. The last time was bad enough and he’d still been single then, now it would just be weird.

“Huh?” Kouha made a face. “No, it’s nothing like that, En said not to get wine involved since you guys decided on tea, plus Ryuu’s such a lightweight… this isn’t alcohol. It’s just soup.” 

“Soup,” Judar said, eyeing the jar suspiciously. Kouha hadn’t taken the cover off or anything, but there was still a smell wafting over that was definitely too sharp to be soup. 

“Yeah,” Kouha said. “Ei’s soup.” 

…ah.

“If you want to kill me just kill me,” Judar said. His hands were shaking as he held them out to receive a bowl from one of Kouha’s creepy retainers. “You don’t have to execute me like this, you little  _ goblin _ , and me and Hakuryuu have already done it  _ tons _ of times so if Kouen thinks he’s gonna be able to preserve Hakuryuu’s chastity just by offing me then he’s real fucking wrong - “

“Oh, no, En’s got no idea,” Kouha said cheerfully. “Though he got super worried when I asked Ei for seconds to take home, y’know? Anyhoo, I actually did drink some of this - “  _ what was that little brat implying?! _ “- when I got her to make it, you really think I’ll let you get out of this now?” 

Fuck Kouha and fuck the goading tone in his voice and fuck Judar’s competitive instincts. He scowled, grabbed the jar, poured himself a full bowl and - 

“Hey?! Hey! Judar, no, you’ve got to go  _ slowly _ \- “

As soon as the taste hit his tongue, his stomach revolted. It wasn’t even down his throat yet, but Judar was already hacking and sputtering, violently enough to somehow choke down even more and - ugh, it felt like it was going up his  _ nose _ from the way his sinuses were burning! His vision blurred - was he dying?! no, his eyes were just watering - 

“Oh, no, I didn’t actually mean to kill him,” he heard Kouha moan, but it was distant, and then he was gone.

明玉

Judar woke up to someone petting his head.

“Aw, s’cute, ‘kuryuu,” he slurred, and then winced. Ow. His throat.

“I’m not Hakuryuu,” a familiar yet unfamiliar voice drifted back, and his eyes shot open. He knew that voice. What the  _ fu _ -

“You!” he screeched, leaping to his feet - and then unbalancing and knocking into the bedpost. Ow.

“Judar!” Aladdin yelped, leaping back and clutching at his staff as if Judar had lunged for his throat instead of making a fool of himself. “You’ll hurt yourself!” 

“Already done that, thanks,” Judar rasped, crawling to his feet. “What the hell are you doing here, anyways?” 

“I was invited to the wedding,” Aladdin said, “so I thought maybe I’d drop in early to congratulate you two and help with the preparations a bit? Don’t tell Alibaba I said this, but he and Mor - “ 

“Don’t wanna hear it,” Judar made a face. Ugh. Aladdin had been invited? Aladdin? Of course he had, he was a Magi and prince of Alma Torran and this was the wedding of a - of someone who  _ had been  _ a Magi. It was going to be huge, from the way Hakuryuu and Kougyoku kept talking about it, to the point that everyone who was anyone would be invited, and then some. No use fighting them on this, either, since Kougyoku and the brat were such good friends these days.

Judar froze. If Aladdin had been invited what about the other two? Scheherezade’s spawn and - he shuddered -  _ Yunan _ \- 

“You don’t look so good,” Aladdin said, frowning. “Maybe you should lie back d… okay! Okay, forget I said anything!”

“Yeah, yeah, out of my way, shorty,” Judar glowered. Alibaba was fine since he wanted to rub how much better Hakuryuu’s wedding was in his face. Aladdin? Once in a while, Judar was capable of calling it quits.  _ Yunan _ ? Judar would sooner find some way to off that guy for good before letting him anywhere near his and Hakuryuu’s wedding with that horribly outdated, impossibly cringeworthy fashion sense!

光菲

“Oh, it’s so good to know that you do care about how people dress once in a while,” Kourin giggled from where she was hovering by Kougyoku’s shoulder. “That should make this easy, right?” 

“What,” Judar said.

“You’re being far too kind,” Kougyoku said. She glowered at the stack of invitations Judar had torn through - maybe a bit too literally - in search of Yunan’s, before turning that glare towards him. “We weren’t even going to invite him, it’s impossible to track him down now that he’s gotten so interested in the portals, but you know, I’m sure that with  _ Aladdin _ around to help - “

“Shh! Not so loud!” Judar hissed, whacking her over her mouth with another invitation. “Do you want him to actually go looking for Yunan?!” 

She scowled and snatched the paper from his hands. “Maybe,” she whispered furiously, “since it would be a fitting punishment - “

“I’m sure he’s just in a tizzy about the wedding,” Kourin patted the old hag’s head, “think about it this way, imagine if we had two Hakuryuus!” 

Judar’s mind went blank.

Or, well, it went so many places it shouldn’t have that they all cancelled each other out, which was what rendered his mind blank. 

“What’s that supposed to mean,” he croaked.

“He’s being an absolute terror,” Kougyoku informed him. “Insists on triple-checking everything, nitpicks over everyone’s work - from poor Ka Koubun to the serving maids - really, you’d think he was a matchmaker with all the - “

“Ah,” Judar said, then, “ah!” Of course Hakuryuu would give this his all! Because it was their wedding! Because they were going to show up Alibaba! Because they were king and Magi no matter how the world was nowadays, and Judar had chosen him for a reason, after all!

“My, my, how different you look with a blush on your cheeks,” Kourin tittered. “I’ll have to take this into account as well!” 

Kougyoku groaned. “Really? Can’t you at least take out a trial to make him clean up all these invitations that  _ he _ ruined?”

“What’s this about trials,” Judar said, coming down from his high almost immediately. “You know, the pipsqueak told me I looked like I should go and lie down for a bit longer - “

“Since when do you listen to Aladdin?!”

“Since Kouha tried to murder me with Hakuei’s soup,” Judar said, inching back towards the door. As soon as he crossed the threshold, he whirled around to bolt -

-only to smack right into another one of Kougyoku’s sisters. What were they doing here? Weren’t they not supposed to be arriving for another few weeks?

Whatever. To the left - 

Another sister. 

They were pressing in on all sides. Judar was being caged in. He was trapped. 

“Oh shit,” he said, and before he could open up a portal, they descended upon him.

佩晶

“Too much red.”

“Too much black.” 

“Too many folds.” 

“What the hell  _ is _ that, it looks like something Yunan would wear,” he sneered at a particularly offending robe. The woman holding it out narrowed her eyes at him from over her sleeve, and lowered it to stick her tongue out at him before quickly covering her mouth again.

He blew a raspberry at her and the robe promptly hit him in the face. He grabbed it and tossed it over his shoulder right as Kougyoku walked through the door and got it stuck on her headdress.

Bullseye. (Or, well, not bullseye. Bullseye would have been if a sleeve got through one of her hair loops or something, that’d be hilarious.)

“Well, I see you’re enjoying yourself,” Kougyoku harrumphed. “Judar-chan is a brat as always!”

“You kidnapped me for this kind of a torture session, I can be as bossy as I want,” Judar hissed, lifting his arms as one of Kougyoku’s many sisters wrapped yet another silk around his wrist, fawning over how that particular type of red looked against his pale skin. Personally, he thought it was maybe a shade or two too bright for him, and would probably look weird with his eyes.

“Lord Priest,” one of the sisters said, comparing two patterns, “what do you think of this phoenix-feather brocade? I know you’re not a bride but it’s so lovely…”

“I feel like we should pick something more specific for Lord Priest,” another chimed in. “Phoenixes are so generic for weddings!”

“And yet the robes you selected for the Crown Prince had dragons on them!“

“That’s because of the  _ symbolism _ , there’s a difference between honoring the royal family and being some child’s rag doll - “

“Lord Prieeeest,” someone else whined from a different corner of the room entirely. 

“See,” Judar mouthed to Kougyoku, who probably hadn’t seen her sisters like this before from the way her eyes were darting around the room. It was a mess. He couldn’t see the floor because of all the clothes strewn across it. She pouted and turned her face without answering, which was totally admitting he was right.

In the end, they decided on a slightly darker red with phoenixes and peonies. 

“I thought the point of all this was that you two are husband and husband, not husband and wife?”

“Hey, it looks nice,” Judar shrugged. “And the flowers work. You guys like symbolism, right?”

晨欢

Despite the fact that Judar had managed to wrap up his trials way faster than he’d hoped, Hakuryuu still didn’t have time for him, so Hakuei could stuff it. She’d also forgiven Kouen after he spent several days hobbling after her and pleading for forgiveness in a way that gave Judar secondhand embarrassment, so she could double stuff it.

He’d even tried to get involved, he was just that bored, but a few interactions with the Kou officials killed any interest he might have mustered. 

The problem with Hakuryuu wanting a traditional wedding, as it turned out, wasn't the food or the decorations or even the guest list. The mountains of gold that would go into it was only a problem for as long as it took Judar to remember that while he couldn't just pull up a dungeon for its treasury anymore, the former djinns definitely could, and with all the portals everywhere the Dark Continent was at most a hop and a skip away. 

(A really long, magic-fuelled hop and skip, but who’s counting?)

No, the problem with Hakuryuu wanting a traditional wedding was that Judar didn't have parents.

Granted, Hakuryuu didn't either. But he had cousins and siblings that could stand in for them, had already stood in for them, even if the idea of serving tea to Kouen and Hakuei was still really fucking weird. Judar had the leftovers of a village in former Gai, none of which were more closely related to him than the rest, and even he knew that bringing any of them to Rakushou - never mind the palace - was a bad idea. Not the fun kind of bad, either. He was always down for fireworks and riots, but this would make the wedding less of a party and more of... something neither he nor Hakuryuu would like, anyways. 

It was kinda tempting to invite them anyways, just to see Ka Koubun and his lackeys work themselves up to a faint over how to placate a good three-quarters of the guest list, but it might be more distressing for the aunties and uncles from his hometown than anyone else, Hakuryuu included. He almost wanted to ask Hakuryuu if they couldn't just have a smaller ceremony out in the mountains. Almost.

At the very least he wouldn’t have to deal with the officials.

“Even you must get annoyed with them, right?” Judar asked. “Right, Hakuryuu?”

“It’s necessary,” Hakuryuu said, frowning at another scroll before stamping it and setting it aside. Judar snatched it and added it to the pyramid he’d been building. Hakuryuu gave him an annoyed glance, but didn’t say anything. At least it wasn’t a tower, it wasn’t going to fall. And at least Hakuryuu was looking at him.

“Seeeeriously, they’re so -  _ whiny _ ,” Judar made a face, not caring to remember all that he’d heard over the past week. It felt like everyone had something different against them getting married, sometimes. Or maybe just him? 

Nah, Hakuryuu’d probably heard worse with the war memories and all.

“Mm.”

“Look at you, so stressed you’re forgetting how to talk,” Judar said, rolling over in midair to hang upside down in front of Hakuryuu’s face. He just pushed Judar’s braid out of the way to keep reading, and swatted the hand that Judar reached out to pinch him with. So uncute. “I mean, if it’s this much of a hassle let’s just run away and get married in the mountains - “

“Do you even  _ want _ to marry me?” Hakuryuu demanded, suddenly snapping his head up. Judar’s breath caught in his lungs. Hakuryuu’s eyes were so much more piercing than he could remember feeling before, and his heart kinda hurt. “What is this to you, Judar, is it just about the convenience and nothing else?”

“Of course I - “

“Then  _ act like it _ ,” Hakuryuu snarled. “Or is that too hard for someone like you?”

He probably didn’t mean anything by it, but all the same, any words Judar could have said shrivelled and died in his mouth. His throat hurt and his tongue felt dry. That was never a good feeling, so he turned sharply and floated off. When Hakuryuu didn’t grab for him in that panicky but kinda cute way that he still used to do just a few months ago, Judar opened up a portal and hopped through to go visit his hometown. Bitching with his aunties was always fun, even if they made him help with dishes afterwards, and he probably owed it to them to mention the wedding that they weren’t going to be invited to anyways.

厌离

Bitching with his aunties was  _ not _ fun. 

Or, well, it  _ was  _ fun, but it didn’t make him feel any better. This was a first, and Judar felt cheated. Maybe it was because he hadn’t gotten too far into detail, but… it wasn’t like the wedding was going to be anytime soon, and he’d had a feeling that he’d just get himself lectured for not being romantic enough. But then what the hell had he flown all this way for (never mind the fact that he teleported most of the way) if he was just going to shut his trap for once and keep feeling all weird and… twisty? He couldn’t even complain about  _ that _ properly because as soon as he mentioned it to one of the girls, Setsu-something-or-other, and she’d grinned ear-to-ear and accused him of being  _ nervous _ , of all things.

He’d had to part with all but one of the sachima he’d snagged at tea time to shut her up, and then she’d made fun of him for not being able to haggle lower. What a  _ witch _ . 

Judar groaned, buried his head in his arms, and let the last sachima tumble out of his palm. It bounced off the branch below him and then got stuck in the branch below  _ that _ , until a bird landed to peck at it. Didn’t even make it to the ground. 

“Ugh, what a waste of food. You pick that up from the bastards in Rakushou?”

He didn’t respond.

“Juda? Oi, Juda.”

Ugh, just go away.

“ _ Yu _ -”

“I’ve got ears,” he snapped, “even if they aren’t the size of an elephant’s, so piss off!”

There was a huff, and then retreating footsteps. Maybe Setsunag was learning to mind her own business for once, Judar thought, and didn’t bother lifting his head. That was his mistake.

“Hup!”

He snapped his head up, and barely managed to tumble off of the branch in time to avoid getting a face full of obnoxious little cousin. As it was, Judar had to struggle to right himself midair - and then there was a hand in his braid, why that little  _ beast  _ \- 

“Jeez, Juda,” Setsunasty said, yanking him back onto the branch next to her, “couldn’t you have stayed put a bit longer? I scraped myself on the bark, y’know!” She scraped herself on the bark? She scraped herself on the - there was  _ bark _ in his  _ hair _ now! And dirt! And probably twigs and bugs and shit! 

“I am  _ not _ above punching little brats,” Judar reminded her. She was probably older than Hakuryuu, actually, but she was really short for her age. He’d gotten mud in his bathwater over pointing that out more than once, but he had a sneaking suspicion she was here to talk about feelings and he’d take washing his hair out in the creek at ass o’clock over anything related to the rocks that had decided to set up house in his stomach. Unfortunately, she could probably figure that out, too. 

“It’s those pigs in Rakushou, isn’t it,” she said, which meant  _ feelings _ . He considered his braid, which was still tightly clenched between her fingers, and then her belly. Setsunosy was ticklish as  _ fuck _ , but even though it was getting to be really warm in Rakushou and his village wasn’t even that much farther north, the mountains were much colder - cold enough that she was wearing at least three layers, so he couldn’t just tickle her into releasing him. He considered her fingers again. She probably didn’t need all of them, right? 

“Juuuuda,” she said, refusing to let him forget about her presence for even one second. “Juda Juda Juda - ”

“It’s Judar, you little shit,” he snapped, “I know you can say it! Stop mangling it!”

She huffed. “It’s not  _ really  _ your name,” she argued, “and before you get started, just because the census says so doesn’t mean anything, pretty much our entire village isn’t on the damn thing!”

Oh,  _ shit _ . He hadn’t even thought about the census. Fuck! Did he want his parents’ names on the census? Did he want his actual name on the census? Was he going to go down as Ren Judar and nothing else in the memory of - memory of…

“Juda? Judar. Judar, stop making that face, is anyone home? Look, I’ll call you Judar, alright? C’mon. Judar,  _ Judar _ , c’mon - ”

百善

When he comes back to himself, there’s a cup of tea in his hands and a blanket around his shoulders. 

“You’re going to make me all gross and sweaty, ew,” Judar says, and shrugs it off. His auntie sighs and places her hands over his, presses them both closer to the cup. Oh. It’s frozen over. He frowns and gets to work on thawing it out, his grip tightening until the rim is cutting into his skin. 

“It’s never a good sign when you’re that quiet at our gatherings,” his auntie fusses, rubbing at his knuckles to try and get him to let go. Not a chance in hell, old hag, as if fixing a bit of tea is beyond him. “Now, you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to, I’m not Setsurei, but - ”

“I’m getting married,” he blurts out, and her hands practically fly to her cheeks as she gasps. It jostles the cup, though, and his numb fingers aren’t enough to steady it before he ends up with a lapful of (unfrozen, but still cold) tea. Judar clicks his tongue - a habit he’s picked up from Setsu _ rei _ , so that was her name, huh - as he climbs to his feet.

“Which of those - those -  _ ogres _ , those  _ demons _ ,” she’s saying, struggling to find the words without resorting to swearing, and Judar sighs as he reaches for the tea tray. His auntie follows him as he heads into the kitchen, clawing at the air. 

“Whose  _ idea _ was - Judar, darling, when is this? When is - ”

“Mine,” he lies easily, “and don’t know, don’t care.” She’d probably collapse if she knew any of what had actually happened when Hakuryuu proposed, find some way to spin it in her mind so that it’d be like he was being taken advantage of. She was a worrisome old lady. It was fine. 

“Liar,” she chastised, before going back to her moaning. “Our poor Judar,” she was saying, “married off to - who are they marrying you off to? I heard there were trade disagreements with - oh, what did Yanbo say, Reim? Are they marrying you off to some old bat in Reim - ”

“What, no!” Judar nearly tripped over his own feet as he remembered, suddenly and very inconveniently, exactly what people like his aunt thought of people like the Rens - aside from the whole Kou-Gai thing, there was also the money thing. “It’s not like that, it’s not an arranged marriage, I’m not getting sold off like some sort of magic cow.” As if he’d let that happen, even if someone actually got Hakuryuu to consider it for more than a second without pulling out his guandao. He’d just fly away and take a dip through a few portals, no one would ever catch him.

No use telling any of that to his auntie, though, even after he’d rearranged the mountainscape she was still convinced he needed to be protected from the evils of the world. As if he wasn’t all the evils of the world already.

“You’re certain? You’re sure?” She was in his face all of a sudden, patting his cheek and tucking his hair behind his ears. “Then - then, is it a noble? You’re fairly active in court, aren’t you? You haven’t mentioned any servant boys or guards… I thought that they were more concerned about, you know…  _ that _ , though? Oh! Oh, is it - “ here, her voice dropped, “ - is it that  _ prince _ ?”

“Yeah, I’m getting married to Hakuryuu,” Judar said. There was no way to put this off since he’d let the wedding slip, ugh, why’d he let it slip. There was definitely a better way to break it to her, right…? Even though he’d joked about bringing Hakuryuu to meet his parents, and even though most of the village had warmed to him at least a little by the end of their stay, Hakuryuu was still a prince of Kou. It would always be hovering over them a bit, no matter how fond people tried to act. Judar set the tea tray on the counter with way more force than was necessary, then turned so he could push her off. “Ugh, Auntie, my hair’s fine, seriously.”

“It’s not going to be fine once you’re getting married,” she harrumphed, but pulled back and crossed her arms. “So. Ren Hakuryuu, hm? Weren’t the two of you already...?”

“No, Auntie.”

“Goodness, I wish I’d known,” she sighed, “there are some fine young men in the next village, you know? Excellent hunters, too - “

“Hakuryuu can hunt  _ fine _ , Auntie, you’ve  _ eaten _ from his kills.” 

“Well, I  _ suppose  _ it was acceptable,” the liar, she had been boiling over with praise for him and his cooking, “even if our Judar deserves far better. Are you sure you won’t reconsider - “

“Pretty sure the only ones who outrank him in Kou are his sisters,” Judar said, “so I don’t know  _ how _ you’d expect me to aim any higher. And no, Auntie, you know I - you know. That I.”

“That you love him,” she said, far more kindly than he would have if - if Hakuryuu pulled a Titus and then Hakuryuu Two wanted to get married to… another Arba-possession-offspring? Or something. That was a pretty extreme comparison, though.

“Yeah,” he said. “I love him.”

“But marriage is marriage.”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, honey,” Auntie said, and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. When he gets here I’ll make sure the entire village gives him hell.”

“Yeah - wait, what? No, don’t do that,” Judar said, “If you all give him trials then the wedding will get put off for, I dunno, at  _ least _ a year! Why’d you think he’s the one doing trials, anyways? And what d’you mean,  _ when he gets here _ ?”   


“Oh, did you not come for your seclusion? I figured that was what this was,” Auntie said. “Then again, your parents didn’t exactly marry the usual way either… but as for postponing the wedding, well, that’s rather the idea, isn’t it? Goodness, you might be the world’s strongest magician but sometimes, you are really  _ just _ like your mother.”

“Wait, are you calling me stupid?!”

“Yes,” she said, and then before he could get the ball rolling on a new tirade, “let me tell you about the time your mother almost ate some ornaments from my dowry…”

恩珲

Hakuryuu arrived only two days later.

It was kind of surprising, honestly. Judar was used to losing contact with him for much longer because, well, sometimes long-distance magic just didn’t work, especially when the distance in question was across dimensions rather than just a continent or two. 

So it was surprising, but that didn’t change the fact that it was - nice. It was nice.

“I’m sorry,” were the first two words he heard out of Hakuryuu’s mouth - directed towards his auntie, even though he was staring over her shoulder at Judar the same way that Judar used to stare at him, years and years and years ago, roiling and unreadable from a courtyard’s distance away. “Judar, I - “

Setsurei slapped her mouth over his hand. 

“No talking to the bride before the trials,” she sang, and then Judar didn’t see Hakuryuu again for a week.

“You know you didn’t really have to make the entire village give him trials,” he told his auntie, but she just gave him a strange little smile. 

“Of course I did,” she said, and then launched into another tale about his family. It was nice. It kept him distracted. It kept him distracted for a full seven days, until Hakuryuu finally came to his room again.

He had twigs and grass in his hair, and streaks of dirt smeared on his face. His clothing was torn, and mud was caked to his boots. He had to use his guandao to help support himself, and its blade was rusted with - well.

But the only time he’d been more radiant had been the first time they came here together.

“I’m sorry,” Hakuryuu said, echoing the same words as he had said last week. Judar braced himself. “...I probably should have bathed before I came to see you, but I couldn’t wait.”

“Yeah, you do kinda stink,” Judar said. “But it’s fine. C’mon, I’ll walk with you.” Walk, not fly.

They walked.

“...I’m sorry for what I said last time,” Hakuryuu said, after a long period of silence. Judar said nothing, just twisted their fingers together and swung their arms back and forth. “It was thoughtless. I understand if you don’t want to go through with this anymore, and I - “

“What are you talking about?” Judar asked, genuinely baffled. “You’ve already done your set of trials, haven’t you?” 

“That was to see you,” Hakuryuu said. “Not to marry you. Not if you don’t want to.”

“You came this far, didn’t you? Of course I’m going to marry you,” Judar said, and Hakuryuu’s shoulders sagged with relief.

“But, you know, Judar, I - “ Hakuryuu stopped. He seemed to be struggling to find the words. Judar patted his back, then started helping Hakuryuu out of his clothes.

Sinking into the spring usually washed away the rest of the world. Even when the water wasn’t heated with his magic, Judar always melted into it. Hakuryuu usually liked it, too, but it didn’t seem to be doing much for him now.

“You’re gonna get cramps like that and then you’ll be grouchy in the morning,” Judar told him, swimming up behind him to rub his shoulders. Hakuryuu leaned back into him, so Judar wrapped his thighs around Hakuryuu’s waist and tangled their legs together.

“...what you said last time,” Hakuryuu said. “If you really want to just get married here, that’s fine. I’ll do it.”

“Thought you said you wanted traditional.” He hooked his chin over Hakuryuu’s shoulder and pressed a kiss to the side of his neck. It was nice. This was nice. Being here again with Hakuryuu, with just Hakuryuu, it’s nice. 

“It doesn’t really matter in the end,” Hakuryuu said. “What I want is to marry you. I don’t care that much about the details.”

“I don’t care either,” Judar told him. “And you already got so much done, right? We can go back to Rakushou in the morning and stick to your plan, you’re the one doing all the work anyway. I didn’t mean what I said either, you know me, I’m a cheeky brat.”

“Actually,” Hakuryuu said, and wobbled a bit as Judar kissed up to his jaw. “I was thinking that we could stay here a bit longer, before we went back.”

Huh? “Don’t they need you for the preparations or something,” Judar said. “I mean, not that I’m complaining or anything, stay as long as you want.”

“I’m sure Kougyoku can manage on her own,” Hakuryuu said, before turning to catch Judar’s next kiss with his mouth.

They didn’t do a whole lot of talking after that.

语嫣

When Judar woke up the next day, he could hear voices in the kitchen. Hakuryuu and his Auntie, most likely. He closed his eyes, knowing that Hakuryuu probably already knew he was awake.

Sure enough, his king came back to join him after a few minutes. He inched over on the bed to give Hakuryuu more space. 

“We were talking,” Hakuryuu said, “about why you might be, ah, apprehensive about the ceremony.”

“Auntie’s got it all wrong,” Judar said automatically. “I’m not really Gai or anything so I can’t say shit.”

“Still,” Hakuryuu said. “I know it means something to you, even if it’s not… not like how it is for her, or how Kou is for me. Even if it’s only a little bit, you shouldn’t have to make any more sacrifices on my behalf.”

“Why’re you saying it like it’s so serious? I’m definitely bringing this up the next time you accuse me of stealing the blankets.”

Hakuryuu sighed.

“Look,” he said, “I just want you to know. If there’s anything you want for our wedding, say the word and we can try to figure it out, together.”

C, cute.

“...I don’t want Kouen there,” Judar said. “Zagan left you some magic tools or whatever, right?” He didn’t know the details, but something like that must have happened if Hakuryuu could still use his plants to track him and check his sleep and whatnot. “Call him up or something, I wanna make Kouen sick so he can’t come.”

“My sister might not like that.”

“Kouen knows what this is about, he’ll insist on her going and then call it atonement or whatever,” Judar said. “He’ll deal.” Which made it less satisfying, but it was still better than letting Kouen be at his wedding.

Hakuryuu  _ hmm _ ed, and then brushed some of Judar’s hair out of his face. What’s with that, ah. 

“Did he say something to you?”

“...just the usual stuff that people have been saying, I think. But it was really annoying from him.” Since he was Hakuryuu’s cousin. Since Judar was supposed to serve him tea. Since it actually kind of mattered then.

“Alright,” Hakuryuu exhaled, and then stronger, “Alright. I’ll speak to Zagan.”

Wow,  _ nice _ . Maybe he could try pushing his luck? “I don’t want to be on the census, either.”

Hakuryuu stiffened. Judar wondered if maybe he shouldn’t have tried, but it was going to come out sooner or later anyways and he didn’t like keeping anything from Hakuryuu, even for a little bit. 

“I know that it’s important,” Judar said, in case Hakuryuu thought he didn’t realize. “But I’ve never been on that thing from the start and everyone knows who I am anyways, does it really matter? Everyone’s still gonna know we’re married, it’ll be in all the histories, do I really have to go in the census too? It’s not like we’re regular citizens.”

“What’s this about,” Hakuryuu said, instead of responding to anything he had just said.

“I mean. It’s not like ‘Judar’ has a spelling in Kou script, anyways,” Judar said, “and even if it did I wouldn’t be able to read it, so who cares. Yuuka’s not a real name, either, it’s… you know.”

A placeholder, one that his parents hadn’t managed to get rid of in time before they died. People could tell him the names they remembered his parents considering, but in the end, he didn’t have one. And.

“You don’t want to be the one who brings your family into Kou, do you,” Hakuryuu said. “Since your parents weren’t on the census, either.” 

“No one from this village is. I think some of them think I am, though."

“I know,” Hakuryuu said, “I looked.” 

He had?

“Since it’s part of you,” Hakuryuu said, touching his cheek again. “And I want all of you. I’m marrying all of you. I’m not marrying just one name. So you shouldn’t have to choose.”

Judar swallowed.

“I’ll talk to Kougyoku,” Hakuryuu said. “Since in the end the decision is up to her. But if this is what you’ve been worrying about, then it’s fine. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

He buried his face in the crook of Hakuryuu’s neck.

“I love you,” he said, voice muffled. “I love you, I love you, I love you - “

念真

They stayed until the day of the wedding, handling anything that needed to be handled with magic. In the morning his village saw them off with a small procession, throwing shredded leaves and petals instead of red confetti. The food was the same as ever, there was just more of it. He put a handful of lotus seeds in his mouth and then kissed Hakuryuu so he could have some, too. It wasn’t the same as a wedding ritual but was close enough that Hakuryuu blushed, and the villagers cheered like it was. They probably shouldn’t have been doing the usual blessings of tossing grains and seeds but they did anyways, and some of the kids let the chickens out so it wouldn’t be a total waste.

It was noisy. It was a mess. It wasn’t pretty or luxurious in the least. 

He loved it.

“It’s just a matter of hours until the wedding,” Hakuryuu said, looking apprehensive for the first time since he’d arrived, “But… you’re right, I almost wish this was it. Then we wouldn’t have to be separated.”

“You’re the one who said traditional,” Judar sang, and when Hakuryuu pouted he slung his arm over his shoulder. “Well, like you said, we’ve been apart for way longer, right? And those few hours are going to be really busy anyways.”

“Mm.”

“But if you want,” Judar said, “since we’re going to be teleporting back anyways, we could always sneak off for a bit, the spring’s definitely empty right n…”

“We’re not going to have sex right before the wedding,” Hakuryuu said, and Judar sighed exaggeratedly.

“C’mon, you got me all worked up with that kissing,” he complained, knowing that Hakuryuu wouldn’t relent no matter how he licked his fingers or fluttered his lashes. Still, it was nice seeing Hakuryuu bite his lip. Probably Judar was the one getting more worked up, though.

Kougyoku had made preparations to welcome them back, too. All of Rakushou was decked out in red and gold, and they looked decidedly out of place as the parade of well-wishers led them back to the palace, where they parted ways. The main procession would head from the residential palace to the governmental one, and then back at the end of the night. Despite all the effort that had gone into arranging the wedding, in the end it was pretty simple, huh? Especially on Judar’s part. All he had to do was sit pretty first as Kougyoku and her sisters prettied him up and then as the palanquin carried him away. Oh, and pour tea. Even for Kouen. He was in a good enough mood to let the guy off.

“Your hair is so long,” one of the princesses was fawning. Or complaining. Hard to tell with her voice being so high. “It’ll take forever to comb properly!”

“Skip it then,” he suggested, and she gasped and swooned into another one of her sisters, who just rolled her eyes. “Or just do it once.”

“We’ve got a lot of hands between us, it’ll be fine,” a third sister said, and proceeded to brutalize his scalp four times over while singing blessings. 

“Oh, your skin’s darkened,” someone else said, and he couldn’t help but tense. “Good thing we chose this red, right, Kourin? The one you wanted would have looked awful - “ 

“Yes, yes, of course,” Kougyoku cut in, “But this one is just fine, he’s radiant. Absolutely glowing. Very nice eye for accents.” 

She gave him a look so kind it made his skin crawl. Judar huffed and looked away, which she would know as the closest she’d get to any sort of thanks. Kougyoku would know.

Kourin demanded the right to do his makeup in exchange for her sister’s slight against her. She brushed powders and paints over his skin with an expert hand despite the fact she'd probably never worked with those shades before, and then declared him lovelier than any princess in the room with a pointed glance at the one that had insulted her taste. Probably. He couldn’t remember all their names.

“I know Hakuryuu said to be mindful, but - oh, you make such a beautiful bride,” Kougyoku sniffled, hiding behind her sleeve the way she always did when she was trying to blink away tears. He snorted.

“If you keep that up you’ll get dehydrated and then your skin will get all dry and spotty,” he told her, and she stepped on his toes as she finished adjusting his veil.

“Oh, just go get married already,” she pouted. “And then you can go travelling and I won’t have to deal with your attitude!”

He might have given her a smile as he was led out of the room, but, well, with that red veil over his head who’d be able to say for sure?

映月

Kouen wasn’t at the ceremony.

He couldn’t exactly ask Hakuryuu about it. As they bowed to each other Judar gave him a curious look, but then remembered that Hakuryuu couldn’t see his face because of the veil. He had no idea how he managed to forget that thing when it was on his head and making everything he looked at seem red, but he sure had.

On the altar table, there was a golden calabash with a red ribbon looped around the stem.  _ Actual _ gold judging from the shine of it and the barely visible line down the middle. Kougyoku announced them, and then split it with a ceremonial dagger. Some liquid splashed out onto the tablecloth. He was kind of surprised they didn’t just stick to cups, since commissioning something like that was probably a pain, and Kougyoku would have had to practice cutting the gourd a lot too. Seemed like everyone was putting in more effort than him, huh? 

He’d have to make it up for it later.

Judar lifted his veil slightly as he picked up his half of the gourd and brought it to his lips. To his surprise, it was - sweet. Peach juice? Did Hakuryuu really decide to use peach juice for this?

His surprise must have been obvious even with the veil on, because Hakuryuu was smiling softly as he drank from his half as well. The red sash hung between them like a bridge. Judar was struck by the urge to yank on it, to yank him closer for… for…

A gong rang. Hakuryuu took a breath, and began to speak.

“I shall share with you the sweetness of my life, and drink deeply of the cup so that you need not taste bitterness,” Hakuryuu started. Wait. What? “I shall share with you the riches of my life, and toil ever more so that you need not know poverty.” That wasn’t right? “I shall share with you the beauty of my life, and the simplicity, for my love is one that knows no form.” What? What? What? “I shall live for you in the hope that you shall live for me, and live beyond me, so that I may never have to be without you.”

...but that isn’t how the traditional vows go!?

He didn’t want to know what his face looked like under the veil. Judar couldn’t feel his fingers, but, somehow, still managed to reach out. They exchanged gourds, and drank again.

The gong rang. Judar’s vision swam with red as he opened his mouth.

“...A thousand years,” he heard himself say. He hoped his voice didn’t really sound that hoarse. “Or a thousand lifetimes. It doesn’t matter how long I’ve waited for you, because I’d do it again. I’d do it again for every moment we’ve had, and every moment we’re going to have. But it doesn’t matter how long I’ve waited for you, because I don’t have to wait anymore. I won’t wait anymore. In life we share one bed, so in death we’ll share one tomb. I won’t leave you behind. You’re not allowed to leave me behind!” 

Despite the music, despite the drums, despite the crowd, all he could hear was the way Hakuryuu’s breath hitched.

“...Judar,” he said, and then someone struck the gong.

Judar launched himself into Hakuryuu’s arms. Hakuryuu’s hand went up to his veil, so Judar reached up to rip it off. One of Hakuryuu’s hands caught his, and they tugged the veil off together. The other hand went up to his face, thumb brushing over his cheek tenderly.

He gripped Hakuryuu by the collar of his robes and surged into a kiss. 

_ I love you. I love you. I love you. _

He hoped, somehow, that Hakuryuu could taste his words in the sweetness they shared, too.

秋丹

“Hurry,” Judar demanded, tugging at Hakuryuu’s sleeve. The hallway to their new room was long enough already without him walking so slowly. He might as well not have been moving at all.

“Why would I do that,” Hakuryuu replied, sliding his hand up Judar’s arm under his sleeve. Judar shivered. He wasn’t used to having his wrists be touched, and something about the way Hakuryuu was doing it, rubbing his skin in a way that would be indecent if not for the fabric blocking it from view, was really…

“You made me wait back then,” Judar said, less of a complaint and more of a breathy whine. He tried to at least tug Hakuryuu along, but Hakuryuu just tightened his grip and yanked him back instead, so that their shoulders were brushing.

“So?”

“So, so you can’t make me wait  _ now _ , how is that fair?”

“I thought you said that you’d wait a thousand lifetimes for just one moment with me?” Hakuryuu said. From this angle Judar couldn’t tell if he was teasing or not. Stupid hair ornaments, he should have never let Kougyoku near him with those things. “Anyways, shouldn’t a good wife know to obey her husband?”

Judar’s breath caught in his throat, and Hakuryuu had to yank his wrist again as he stumbled. Ugh, he was going to be so sore later and he didn’t even have anything in him yet. “What, did you really like that so much?”

_ Definitely _ teasing.

“Sh, shut up,” Judar said, and he could  _ feel _ Hakuryuu smile - no, really, it was in the way his rukh curled into itself, comfortable and light-hearted and a lot of other things he had never really been sure he could make Hakuryuu feel this much. But it was there. 

“When Kougyoku called you a blushing bride earlier I thought she must have been joking,” Hakuryuu said. “But look at you, so shy - “

“Shut  _ up _ !” Judar said, reaching up to try and pull out that annoying hair ornament. He wanted to see Hakuryuu’s smile without all the beads in the way, damn it. “As if you weren’t blushing twice as hard when you saw me all dressed up earlier!”

“I - wasn’t blushing,” Hakuryuu said.

“Yeah, sure,” Judar scoffed, “just like you weren’t crying when we pulled my veil off - “

“I wasn’t doing that, either!”

“Crybaby, crybaby,” Judar sang, and the main headpiece  _ finally _ came loose. He tossed it carelessly over his shoulder just in time to catch Hakuryuu’s face as he buried it in his other sleeve. Wait, was he - 

“Are you crying  _ again _ ,” Judar said, more awed than anything. He’d thought for sure that Hakuryuu would have run out of tears after the tea ceremony, when Hakuei had given them the longest and most specific list of blessings he had ever cared to hear, but no - no, it looked like he still had some in him.

“Shut up, Judar,” Hakuryuu said, and his voice was muffled enough that Judar probably could have pretended not to hear - but, well, he  _ really _ wanted to have sex. 

“As my husband commands,” Judar said, trying to soften his voice as much as possible. Ugh, he sounded like the protagonist from one of those novels that Kougyoku hid in her jewelry drawer. But it seemed to be working, since the tips of Hakuryuu’s ears were turning red.

“Would my husband like to retire for the night,” he tried again, “or is there another way this wife may comfort her lord? Perhaps this wife could - “

“Oh my god, shut  _ up _ ,” Hakuryuu actually  _ squeaked _ , “what if someone  _ hears _ you like that, you can’t just - you - you - “

“Yes, me,” Judar said cheerfully, “so come on, before I jump you in the hall and  _ really _ give them something to overhear, my king, my king, my husband, let’s go - “

“You’re such a child sometimes,” Hakuryuu said, and then scooped him up into his arms. Judar yelped and clung to his shoulders, before thinking better of it and lifting a hand up to yank his hair. “Ow!”

“Hurry up then!” 

“I’ll  _ drop _ you,” Hakuryuu threatened, but he didn’t really. No, instead he full on  _ threw _ Judar onto the bed when they got there.

“So rough, my husband,” Judar said, wriggling out of the first layer of his robes. “Is that how you treat your  _ blushing bride  _ \- “

“Ugh,” Hakuryuu said, crawling onto the bed after him. Judar went after the ties at his waist as Hakuryuu fumbled with his collar. “Seriously, stop talking like that.”

“Oh, does this not  _ please  _ my husband,” Judar crooned, bringing a knee up to rub between Hakuryuu’s legs. From the way Hakuryuu’s hips stuttered, well… it was hardly the weirdest thing he’d ever done, pretending to be someone’s wife. And it wasn’t even that much of a lie now, was it? Since they were married. They were married. Hakuryuu was his husband, Hakuryuu was  _ his _ \- 

“My husband, my husband,” Judar sang. “Perhaps this is more to my husband’s liking?” He let his robe fall open as he rolled his hips. He lifted the leg that had been pressing against Hakuryuu’s cock and hooked it over his shoulder. The stretch burned pleasantly, and the way Hakuryuu’s eyes went wide was a good reward too.

“You,” Hakuryuu managed, “you,” and Judar batted his eyelashes at him before cackling. 

“Yes, me, Ha~ku~ryuu. My lord. My husband. My honorable lord husband - “ 

“Hrrrck,” said Hakuryuu, and then he was shoving his lips against Judar’s laughing mouth. It was wet and messy and Hakuryuu grinding their hips together - an uneven, almost needy pace - just made Judar laugh more.

“My hu-us-band,” he managed, breathy moans into Hakuryuu’s mouth. He was starting to ache, so he brought his other leg up to press against Hakuryuu’s side. “How, how do you want me? Bent in half? Legs spread? On my side or stomach?” 

“Hardly the sort of question a proper bride would know to ask,” Hakuryuu panted in between thrusts. He left streaks of precum on Judar’s thigh, and the hem of his skirts. Obviously they’d never be wearing these robes again outside the bedroom but, well, he wondered if it was really okay like that. Probably be a pain to clean for next time.

“And do you want a proper bride? C’mon. How do you want m - mmh, ah, ah…” 

Hakuryuu had reached down for his cock and finished him off with a few well-measured strokes. It wasn’t super intense or anything, but left his hips twitching and his head filled with a pleasant fog. It’d take him a while to recover, but that was fine. They’d have all night.

“Well,” Hakuryuu started, “a proper bride should put h...er husband’s pleasure first, instead of cumming so easily like a cheap courtesan.” 

“Yes,” Judar breathed. “Of course, my lord,” and gripped Hakuryuu’s arms before rolling them over. 

“Allow this bride to show her lord her appreciation,” he said, and then lowered his mouth to Hakuryuu’s cock. Normally Judar would take it as far in as he could, and play with himself during the act, but tonight he was a  _ good bride _ . Tonight, he licked shyly at the tip, mouthed softly up and down the full length of Hakuryuu’s cock, and gently rubbed at the base with his fingertips. He could play cute, if Hakuryuu liked.

“Use, use your tongue more,” Hakuryuu instructed, commanding as always even though his breathing was getting strained. “My cock is nearly as dry as when you started.” 

“Yes, my husband,” Judar said, and obeyed. It was surprisingly hard to balance acting inexperienced, “learning” slowly, and making Hakuryuu feel good (good, but not too good). By the time Hakuryuu‘s hips started shaking, he was nearly ready to go again.

Hakuryuu carded a few fingers through his hair, and pressed down gently. 

“Swallow,” he said. “A, mmh, good wife, sh-shouldn’t waste any of her husband’s gift, right?” 

Scratch that, he was definitely ready to go again.

Judar rubbed his thighs together a bit and hummed as he obeyed. He licked a few stray drops from his lips and pushed the two of them up the bed, so that Hakuryuu was leaning against the headboard and Judar was nearly in his lap.

“This wife thanks lord husband for his… gift.”

Hakuryuu groaned.

“Oh come on, you like it,” Judar said. “Can’t say I’m surprised. Why didn’t you say anything earlier? We’ve done waaay more, were you embarrassed, haha - “ 

Hakuryuu’s head fell forward into the crook of Judar’s neck, and he  _ bit _ . Just hard enough to be a warning, but instead it went straight to Judar’s cock. 

“I’d like it better if you stopped teasing and actually committed,” Hakuryuu muttered against his neck. It kind of tickled. 

“As my husband desires,” Judar said obediently. Hakuryuu groaned again, lower this time. That was kind of quick, but… Judar rolled his hips, rubbing his ass lightly against Hakuryuu’s cock, and Hakuryuu made a sound that was decidedly  _ not  _ pained. Or, well, if there was pain it was being drowned out anyways. 

“My husband is so impressive,” Judar said, and only part of the awe was feigned. “So v - “ 

“Stop, you make it sound like I’m some old noble pawing at his sixth concubine,” Hakuryuu grumbled, but when Judar moved he moved with him. His hands gripped Judar’s hips and squeezed. “Hold still.”

“As my king commands,” Judar said, “only…”

“Only  _ what _ .”

Judar took a deep breath, and raised his voice as high and breathy as he could go without hurting something. “My lord husband, of course I’m honored to become part of your household, to lose my maidenhood to you… and I’ll be honored to give you an heir as well, only, only, this inexperienced wife of yours… is still nervous…!”

Hakuryuu’s mouth was opening and closing soundlessly, and he was reddening in a way that hadn’t happened since the first time Judar convinced him to bring magic into their bed. It was cute. It was so cute. Judar was almost afraid he’d start crying.

“… an… heir,” he managed, “can… can wait for another time, if my sweet bride is unprepared.” Wait. What? They were supposed to have wildly unrealistic “first time” sex like in Kougyoku’s novels, whaaat. Judar didn’t have the dialogue memorized or anything but he thought he’d followed the script pretty well? 

“My lord husband, I - “

“Of course, I’ll just have to take my pleasure from you in other ways,” Hakuryuu tells him, pushing him back down on the bed. Judar goes to spread his legs, only to be stopped. 

...Eh? 

“Keep your legs together,” Hakuryuu commands, and Judar bites his lip and does as he says, pressing his thighs tight. Hakuryuu wraps an arm around his legs to hold them against his shoulder. “Good.” 

The praise always goes straight to his head, and his cock twitches.

His breath catches in his throat as Hakuryuu’s intentions become clear in the form of a cock pushing between his thighs and brushing up against his own. Judar feels his cheeks heating up. Somehow, something like this… it’s really…!

“Your legs are so lovely,” Hakuryuu murmurs, “so smooth and soft,” and turns his head to press a barely-there kiss to his ankle. Judar feels his soul leaving his body. Usually they save the tender afterthoughts for  _ after _ , but this is…! 

“So sweet,” Judar gasps, “My lord husband is so sweet to me,” and the front of Hakuryuu’s thighs slap against the backs of his as his thrusts pick up speed. The skin of his inner thighs is going to be raw and pink later, and he’ll remember this whenever he presses his legs together, he’ll remember it whenever Hakuryuu calls him husband too, and… and… 

Judar whimpers as he cums, legs twitching from the aftershocks rippling through him. Hakuryuu simply grips his ass, pressing his legs close again with his arms, and keeps thrusting. The way their cocks keep bumping together makes him want to whine, but before he does Hakuryuu pets his hip and adjusts his angle so that Judar’s soft cock is spared. 

Hakuryuu’s cum shoots a white line across Judar’s torso, and he moans at the feeling.

“What a messy bride,” Hakuryuu says, breathless as he drags his fingers through the mix of their cum on his skin. Judar catches his hand and twists their fingers together, not caring if he gets sticky. “Ugh, we really ought to clean up.” 

“Or what, you’ll discipline your unruly bride? On your first night together?” When Hakuryuu groans but still flops down by his side, he keeps going. “Why bother, it’s not as if we won’t keep going in a bit anyway.” A thought occurs to him. “I still have to give you an heir, right?  _ Lord husband? _ ”

“...I was hoping you’d forget about that,” Hakuryuu mutters, wrapping an arm around Judar’s waist. He rolls him over and pulls him close so that Judar can’t see his face.

Is he embarrassed? Aw, Hakuryuu! “Honestly that’s really tame,” Judar informs him. “Seriously. That sort of virgin wife thing is pretty popular, isn’t it?”

“How would I know,” Hakuryuu says into his hair, and then, “If you’re tired then shut up and rest now, if you fall asleep later I’ll just have to keep going.” 

Judar shivers. To have Hakuryuu’s cock in him while he dreams, mm…! “How  _ naughty _ of you, lord husband,” he says, in that same high voice as before, and grinds back on Hakuryuu’s cock. “Why, I had no  _ idea _ that such a thing existed… lord husband will have to instruct his wife in many activities - “

“Do you really want to go again now,” Hakuryuu says flatly.

“...nah, let’s cuddle a bit first,” Judar decides. Hakuryuu sighs into his hair. Their sticky, sticky fingers are still twisted together. It’s going to be dry and icky by the time he wakes up, but right now, he can’t think of anything that could ever feel better.

终

“Judar,” Hakuryuu said.

“Mm?” It was probably even more impolite now that they were married on top of being not-king and not-magi, but Judar didn’t even bother rolling over to face him. The bed - their  _ marital  _ bed! - was warm and comfortable and Hakuryuu’s arm slung over his waist was nice. Really nice. Also, he was tired and sore and would probably be even more sore in the morning, so no need to make it worse. Yeah.

“We… we  _ are  _ married, right?”

Judar sat up.

“What? What. Of course we are,” he said, heart beating fast. “Why wouldn’t we be married? Did - is this some loophole thing? Does it not count as consu- consumm - completing the marriage or whatever because you didn’t come inside? Is that it? Because I’m not that sore, actually, we can definitely - “

“No,” Hakuryuu nearly shouted, “We are  _ not  _ going again - and no, what? Of course it’s not because of something like that, as if a law that idiotic would exist in the first place.”

“Kou has a  _ lot _ of stupid laws, though,” Judar informed him helpfully. Then, he perked up. “Hey, I probably know more about Kou’s useless laws than you now - “ 

“No you don’t,” Hakuryuu said automatically. “You’d just get them all mixed up, Koumei wasn’t reading them off in any sort of order.”

“Oh, yeah, you’re probably right,” Judar realized. “It’d have taken longer if he had, huh? Oh, yeah, speaking of, d’you know why Kouen wasn’t at the wedding? ‘Cause that sure wasn’t me.”

“I handled it,” Hakuryuu said, “since I didn’t exactly want him there either. Hakuei talked to me about what happened, I don’t think she’s really pleased with me but she’s not angry or anything, at least. Anyways, why are you talking about other men in our bed.”

“You’re the one who started it!”

“Hm,” Hakuryuu said, and then, “Don’t try to change the subject, I asked you a question.”

“And I asked you one right back!” Judar protested, though it didn’t really work. “Why  _ wouldn’t _ we be married? This took forever, I’m going to go nuts if it turns out it didn’t even count and I wasn’t even doing any work.”

“Well,” Hakuryuu said, wavering. “I.”

“You what,” Judar said.

“I wasn’t certain,” Hakuryuu said, “about. How willing or how serious you were being - “

“ _ Ehhhh?! _ Didn’t we talk about this, like, twice already?”

“Three times, actually.”

“Yeah, that, so then shouldn’t this be cleared up by now?”

“The fact we had to talk about it  _ three times _ is, in itself, the opposite of reassuring,” Hakuryuu said, and Judar groaned before flopping down and rolling onto him.

“Have you seriously been worrying this whole time?”

“Just answer the question,” Hakuryuu said, face flushing. Judar turned his head to the side, resting his cheek above Hakuryuu’s heart.

“You’re so dumb,” he muttered, closing his eyes to enjoy how Hakuryuu’s body felt under him. How Hakuryuu’s breathing and heartbeat felt under him. “Of course I want to marry you. Of course we’re married. We’ve been married ever since Belial. To me, at least.”

“...oh.” Judar could feel Hakuryuu’s contentment in his heartbeat. Well, in his rukh, actually, but it was fun to imagine. 

“Yeah. Idiot.”

“I don’t want to hear that from  _ you _ of all people,” Hakuryuu told him, and then, “...did you seriously consider Belial’s dungeon our wedding?”

“Yeah,” Judar said, and then another thought occurred to him. “Oh, right, about the wedding - Hakuei and Kougyoku both mentioned something about you being kinda touchy? Don’t give me that look, I don’t mean  _ generally,  _ I just I mean the bride stuff. What was that about?”

“Oh,” Hakuryuu said, and flushed. “Well. I.”

“I mean, I know that I’m older and all,” Judar said, “but that’s really all I’ve got on you? I’m not even a Magi anymore, so I can’t pull the status card either. I’m an obvious pick for the bride, right?” 

“I,” Hakuryuu swallowed and averted his eyes, “I know it’s a bit hypocritical after what we just did, but I didn’t... I didn’t want to dishonor you by making you be the bride, so I thought, if I balanced the process a bit - “

“Aww, Hakuryuu, so cute,” Judar laughed, and ruffled his hair. “I don’t mind, really, you know that kind of thing doesn’t matter to me, if it did half of your officials would be dead.” He ignored the sudden dangerous glint in his king’s eyes - cute, so  _ cuuute _ \- and kept playing with his hair. “Though you know, you can dishonor me  _ all you want _ \- “

As it turned out, they really could go another round.

**Author's Note:**

> historical fact time!
> 
> traditional chinese marriage process was generally matchmaker/dowries -> seclusion/trials -> ceremony/big ass feast. juhaku obviously skips the first step. for step two groom would have to prove his devotion by passing tests that the brides family members gave him (in order of seniority, hence why hakuei's supposed to go first). nowadays its usually stuff you'd find in a truth or dare game, like, "prove your love by chugging this jumbo bottle of vinegar" or "do the dishes for me lmao"
> 
> i ended up not doing any hakuryuu povs because the fic was getting way longer than planned but, jsyk, setsurei made hakuryuu fight a bear. also auntie told him to balance an egg on top of the other but he cheated with zagan magic lol
> 
> also about the bride stuff peppered throughout - some parts of china DID have gay marriage in ye olden days, but it was essentially the same process with the younger man in the brides role, unless the younger man was of significantly higher status/wealth. this is a hakuryuu-loving household but its also a household where we acknowledge his sexism so i had him struggle with this a bit haha
> 
> im sure theres more notes that i dont remember at the moment, so if you have questions about anything feel free to ask <3 i love rambling about chinese history almost as much as i love hakuryuu. thats a whole lot of love


End file.
